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P. BRADFORD. TABLE LEAF snrPoRT.

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it UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'PURMOBI. BRADFORD, on NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, Assreivoa '10 SAR- GENT & 00., OF SAME PLACE.

TABLE-LEAF SUPPO RT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,006, dated January 2;, 1883.

Application filed October 23, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PURMORT BRADFORD, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new 5 Improvements in Table-Leaf Supports; and I do hereby declare the lollowin'g, when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure l, a side view; Fig. 2, plan view.

This invention relates to'an improvement in that class of table-leaf supports which consist of a jointed brace, one part of which is hinged to the leaf and the other to the frame, and so that the joint is contracted as the leaf is dropped and extended as the leaf is raised, in similar manner to the braces of carriage- 2o tops, such,for illustration, as shown in United States Patent No. 142,260.

As usually constructed a locking device is applied which will hold the brace in its extended or supporting condition. This locking 2 5 device complicates the construction of the brace, and there is also an uncertainty as to whether the brace is locked or not, and if not locked accidents frequently occur because of the giving way of the brace.

0 The object of my invention is to combine with the brace a spring which will serve to throw thejoint of the two parts above the line between the two points where the brace is attached, and hold it in that condition; and in the combination of such devices, as more fully hereinafter described, my invention consists.

A represents the leaf, hinged to the top B, which rests on the support or frame 0.

D is one part of the brace, hinged to the 0 frame, as at a. E is the other part, hinged to the leaf, as at b, the two parts jointed together, as at cl. The shoulders or bearing a, between the two parts of the brace, are'below the pivot d of the hinge, and are constructed so that be- 5 fore the shoulders come to a bearing the pivotpoint cl will have passed above the direct line between the two hinging-points a b of the brace, said lineindicated by broken lines, Fig. 1 On the one part, D, a stud, f, or other suitable 5o connection is prepared for one end of a spring,

F, and is arranged below the hingin g pivot d.

Onthe other part is a similar connection, It, for the other end of the spring. The line of strain of this spring-is below the pivot d, so

the brace is pulled downward until the pivot 6o d has passed below the direct line between the two points a b, and so as to carry the pointf where the spring is attached, substantially above that line, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 1. In the movement from the supporting position to this last position, the spring is extended bythe swinging movement of the brace. Then as the leaf-is dropped, and the brace continues to contract, the spring will correspondingly contract, as indicated in broken lines, closed position, also seen in Fig. 1. The spring in that position tends to draw the two parts together, and serves in the closed condition to prevent the rattling of the brace, which is unavoidable in braces as heretofore con- 7 5 structed.

' This brace, while designed especially for table-leafsupport, it will be understood is equally applicable to supporting any swing leaf, and

for various purposes for which such swinging leaves are used.

I claim- Theherein-described table-leaf support, consisting of the two parts D E, each titted with a. hinging device by which they may be respectively attachedto the leaf and frame, the two parts j ointed together, and each constructed with a shoulder below the pivot of'the hinge, arranged to come to a bearing after the joint between the two parts has, in raising the leaf, 0 passed above the direct line between the two points where the parts are hinged to the leaf and frame, combined with a spring, one end attached to the one part, and the other to the other part, the two points of connection being 5 in a line below the pivot of the hinge, substantially as described.

PURMORT BRADFORD.

Witnesses 'D. G. MITOHELL,J1., CHAS- L. BALD IN. 

